Well… this is the first time I'm writing a fan fiction under Tamora Pierce… a simple one-shot songfic. The story is based on John Legend's Maxine, and this takes place after Jon birthday. (I would have inserted the lyrics but if it's not allowed, so if you want to know the lyrics you can go google it or something…)

Tell me what you think – would appreciate both reviews and constructive criticisms. I just wanted to write something before school reopens again. )

Well then, I disclaim all the characters and the song Maxine.

Enjoy

-E.Glasse

George walked through the throngs of people, unnoticed. His 'sources' had informed him that Alanna had left the castle earlier and had been headed this way in Corus. He hadn't seen her since the eve of Jonathan's birthday, and was somehow compelled to see her again, although it had only been about three days.

He had an eye out for a copper headed youth with unforgettable violet eyes, in maybe a squire's outfit. For some reason or the other, however, his attention was caught and held but a piece of blue fabric skimming through the crowds.

It had been his Sight that had called him for the scrutiny of the woman. She had long black hair that had been twisted in the simplest fashion, and was using a simple light blue dress. Something about her seemed so strangely familiar – it continued nagging at him. It annoyed him even more since the esteemed Rogue hardly ever forgot a face. Frustrated, he edged subtly closer to the woman, and nearly tripped when he saw her violet eyes.

He could just walk up to her and give her a casual greeting – there would leave no doubt to who she was then. But something held him back – perhaps it was some sort of dread. A sort of premonition. He could just deny it all – pretend that she was just another girl with purple eyes that were so very much alike a certain squire – and continue searching for his initial concern.

She was moving out from his sight. In the crowd of people, it would be easy to lose her. Cursing, he decided to follow his nagging instinct and tagged her.

As he followed – followed, not stalk – her, his eye ran over her. The dress was undoubtedly the hand of his Mother's – but Eleni Cooper sewed for more than one person in Corus – life as just a Healer wouldn't sustain her, and she wanted almost no help from George to support herself despite insistence. It complemented her eyes, and he found himself wondering how it would look like if clashed with copper hair…

He shook his head to rid itself of his fantasy. Maybe once he found out where this young woman was going, he would be able to rest his mind and continue searching for Alanna.

He watched as she nearly tripped when a pair of children ran into her path. She managed to regain her balance, but George noticed then – when the hem of her skirt flicked upwards – that she was using a vary familiar pair of white boots.

He felt his blood run cold for a moment. He had bought an incredibly similar pair for Alanna, and had passed it on to his mother to pass it to her, requesting that she kept quiet about his part on it. He had bought it at Port Caynn, and it had been the only pair available. It had been about a week or two after seeing Alanna in a dress for the first time at his mother's house, and he had wondered if she had any shoes to use with them. Determined to find the best pair for her, he had scoured the whole place for days just to find the perfect ones.

Convincing himself that she could have gone to Port Caynn as well and requested the exact same cobbler to make the exact same pair of shoes of the exact same color no matter how plastic it was all being put together – even to him – he continued shadowing her.

He had the need to convince himself even more that the girl was not who he was looking for – Alanna did go through the streets of Corus in a dress, but she was always accompanied by Eleni, and occasionally Faithful. That was all the more reason why this girl could not be Alanna – unless she had another companion.

George stubbornly pushed the latter thought as far back into his head as he could, although the idea had stuck. She would never go out with someone who didn't know her secrets in the chance that the person might find out her dual identities. If this person was Alanna, the only person that she would be meeting could be narrowed down to an incredibly small amount of people. Once he cut down all other possibilities, it just left one man.

Grimly, he continued following her.

He had to know that the girl was not Alanna, or he would go mad in the next few minutes. He got as close to her as possible as she paused by a vendor selling ribbons and other sorts of fabric. He remained as inconspicuous as possible – so inconspicuous, in fact, that she didn't notice him although he was standing at the vendor next to the fabric merchant, pretending to be interested in a purchase. Of course, she wouldn't notice him since they didn't know each other.

Of course.

He noted her features from the corner of his eye, and gulped. Her features were so alike a certain somebody. Her violet eyes were alight as she ran her fingers over a lilac silk ribbon. Her lips were turned up in a smile as she studied it, and she turned to the merchant to banter for the price. All in all, she never realized he was beside her.

She soon walked off, satisfied with her purchase. He watched as she continued on, taking note of the fact that she walked with a slight hesitance, as if she was trying not to walk like… a… man.

He had to do something to stop his racing mind. As he continued tagging her, he swiped a bottle of wine from an unsuspecting vendor and gulped half the bottle down. He appreciated the slight numbness that it kindly gave his head. A look at the bottle's label made him realize it's value, but he simply shrugged it off and continued following her.

The crowds begun to thin out more now. She had reached the middle class part of Corus. She seemed slightly lost for a moment and she contemplated her surroundings. Her eyebrows furrowed in the same cute way a certain somebody did when she was thinking really hard. He himself had a lot of thinking to do – he was getting a headache from all this, and he hardly thought that he could have a hangover already. He was wondering if she should already throw the bottle away, but its value made him keep it in his hands.

What he saw next made him appreciate that he had.

Apparently, she had found who she was looking for. With a delighted laugh, she jumped into the arms…

… of another man.

The man broke off from their hug to study her, his hands stroking her head gently. Her face had lit up, and as he bent down to kiss her, he couldn't help but wonder… His mind brought him back to another time, another place, another person, who had looked so much like her, who had threatened to stab him as he had brushed his lips against hers. It wasn't that too long ago.

'It's her,' a part of his mind whispered. 'It can be no one else but her.'

But he still tried to deny it.

As they broke away from their kiss, George managed to get a better look at the man who was holding the young woman whom he had been stalking. He was using a dark blue tunic, had coal black hair and sapphire eyes that…

'Ah…'

Yes, here was another look-a-like. Then again, he would disguise himself as well if he looked like Prince Jonathan. Funny how the disguise he chose was incredibly similar to how young rich Johnny looked like. Hey, young rich Johnny was the prince in disguise.

So many coincidences in one day.

He took one final look at the young woman leaving, her arms hooked together with the man's. Yes, he decided, they do look alike. Oh, so alike.

But he would continue to delude himself until he got official word from his sources.